We all look forward to the summer. To the long, warm evenings sitting outside street side cafes or stretching out on patios; to bright, sunny, carefree days lounging in the sun or relaxing in the shade; to the vibrant, captivating colours and the sweet scents and evocative smells that are the mark of every much-loved and well-tendered garden.
And being a nation renowned for its green fingers – unlike the Germans who according to a saying they have pride themselves on their green thumbs – we enjoy spending endless hours shaping and styling shrubs and hedgerows, trimming bushes and manicuring lawns and generally spending just about every spare minute we have pottering around in our own little refuge.
There’s always something to do in a well-kept garden. Especially, of course, at this time of the year. In fact sometimes the days just can’t be long enough depending on the size of the garden that you are lucky enough to call your own. If you are already into self-sufficiency – or simply love the taste of home-grown produce – and are fortunate to have your own vegetable patch, then now is generally the time to harvest some of the early plants like carrots, cabbages, cauliflower, courgettes and kale and time to sow or replant others like Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, chicory and – peas.
You may want to give your lawn a treat and sprinkle it with fertiliser – also home-grown if you prefer. The grass clippings that many people are only too glad to get rid of when they have mowed their lawn are full of nutrients which put back the goodness into the soil. But as is the case with most gardening tips, and indeed many other areas in life, moderation is the key.
And what about every gardener’s pride and joy? Flowers. Glorious, full-bloomed, delicate, luscious, beautifully cultivated flowers. Flowers in every possible shade, colour, size and form.
What do they need to flourish? How do you know what the best possible place for your prized flowers and plants is?
There are a number of things that you have to consider when it comes to finding the right location for the plants and flowers in your garden. Soil composition is a major factor: some plants and flowers like acidic soil while others thrive on alkaline soil.
Exposure to sunlight is at least as important: some flowers need more sun and others more shade. The BF 05 lux meter from Trotec can help you to determine just what the light conditions in any part of your garden, greenhouse or conservatory are and tell you if the place you have chosen is right for your flowers or plants. The lux meter measures light exposure in lux (lx) or foot candles (fc) and provides you with reliable and accurate information regarding the amount of light that your plants will get or are already getting.
And because the temperature and the relative humidity are also important we have a further reliable and accurate measuring device that can help you to keep a vigilant eye on climate conditions both indoors and out.
The BC 05 thermohygrometer is designed to determine climate conditions and measure the air temperature between -20°C and 60°C and the relative humidity from between 0 and 100%. This makes it ideal for climate monitoring in the floristry industry and in greenhouses.
Go here to find out more about these two easy-to-use measuring devices as well as the other measuring devices in the MutiMeasure series. And lean back and make a cool saving into the bargain …
